Cop15 diary week two: creative cops, penalty shootouts and high ambition

Friday, 16 December

• As the flocons fell on Montreal, two officers of the SPVM, the city police, were busy making a miniature snowman outside the Palais des congrès security barricade, using twigs for arms. A few others amused themselves poking gentle Quebecois fun at some of the out-of-country delegates arriving in inappropriate footwear. As they say, there’s no such thing as bad weather, just breathable trainers.

• The ministerial bigwigs banded together in a show of unified force in the morning. Canada’s Steven Guilbeault, the UK’s Zac Goldsmith and France’s Christopher Béchu linked metaphorical arms with eight other environment leaders from the 116-strong “high ambition coalition”, a group of countries committed to the goal of protecting 30% of land and oceans by 2030. Goldsmith said he was confident 30x30 would happen – and that a big financial commitment from the world of philanthropy was dropping soon.

• WWF sparked joy, anticipation for the World Cup final and a bit of light rivalry between delegates with a penalty shootout in the lobby of the conference centre, using a miniature net and a non-regulation ball. There were shouts, cheers, a few great saves and a sign promoting a nature-positive world, which fell down, hopefully not a harbinger for the talks. “Nature has been kicked, punched and thrown for far too long, and it can only so many strikes,” said Marco Lambertini, director general of WWF International, who scored on his first attempt. Messi and Mbappé were typical celeb no-shows.

Thursday, 15 December

• Batten down the hatches, the first snowstorm of the season has arrived in Montreal. However, while temperatures are dropping outside there is a sense that things are hotting up inside the Palais des congrès – and not necessarily in a good way …

• … a discussion on biodiversity finance was interrupted by protesters wearing Jeff Bezos masks while Andrew Steer, CEO of the $10bn (£8bn) Bezos Earth Fund, was speaking. Earlier in the day, climbers hung a 25-metre (80-foot) banner from a building in view of the conference centre that read: “Biodiversity versus Billionaires.”

• Like at the climate talks, it’s clear putting cash on the table will be key to unlocking diplomatic gridlock. Many wealthy countries made financial announcements, but there was a lot of confusion about how much of this money had, in fact already been announced.

• There has been progress elsewhere: on making nature disclosures mandatory by 2030 (target 15) with Argentina the only country blocking the brackets being removed around this point. Japan and the UK were important in galvanising support, sources say.

• Celebrities are also making their thoughts known. Ziggy Marley, Barbra Streisand, Bill Pullman and Ricky Martin are among an impressive list starring in a video calling for 80% of the Amazon rainforest to be protected by 2025, which has been announced at Cop15. It also males a plea for respect for Indigenous rights and recognition of Indigenous territories.

• The US actor James Cromwell made his thoughts clear about the lack of action from world leaders at Cops (particularly Cop15, where none of them are even turning up). “With all the history of the Cops, we have achieved nothing, absolutely nothing, and they know that. I don’t know how they look at themselves in the mirror in the morning,” he said.

Wednesday, 14 December

• In a sign of how fractious talks have become, a Mexican negotiator resorted to offering a bottle of tequila every time a clause was agreed. In negotiations on eliminating and repurposing government subsidies that harm nature, the Mexican delegate said they would gift a bottle of the spirit every time a set of brackets was removed. Brackets indicate that a clause has not yet been agreed in UN negotiations. The Cop15 president, China, has been offering delegates traditional teas all week. One delegate suggested that perhaps they should be offering the Chinese liqueur baijiu instead.

• During the summit, large crowds have enjoyed the joy and heartbreak of the knockout stages of the World Cup on a big screen at the Palais des congrès. When a sign appeared announcing that it couldn’t show the matches any more there was a moment of despair – but delegates at the Global Environment Facility had other ideas and put the Morocco v France game on anyway.

• Succession and Babe actor James Cromwell did an impressive off-the-cuff speech in the press zone, urging people to “rewire their heads” while at Cop15 , saying he was struck by how many people are present and engaged with issues, yet how little is being achieved. “We are one great hive of consciousness creating this magnificent planet and we’re making a mess of it,” said the actor, who plays the pro-environment Ewan Roy in Succession.

Tuesday, 13 December

• UK conservationists have descended on the city, with Tony Juniper, head of Natural England, telling delegates that humanity’s approach to nature as something expendable has arisen from a “misunderstanding of the economic contribution of the natural world”. Craig Bennett, CEO of the Wildlife Trusts, backed Juniper, adding that attacking the natural world is “devastating for nature, devastating for our lives, but also devastating for the economy”.

• Juniper is one of many emphasising the importance of Target 15: to make nature disclosures by businesses mandatory by 2030 and to halve production and consumption by 2030. But there has been little formal discussion on this, with many brackets still in the text. Guido Broekhoven, head of policy research and development at WWF International, says getting both points in the final text is “essential for us”. More discussion of the target is expected in the coming days.

• In a very rare press conference, the Cop15 president Huang Runqiu told journalists of “a lot of gaps between parties”, highlighting digital sequence information (DSI) and the monitoring of targets as key issues. “Countries have to demonstrate flexibility, to come to more consensus – that will be good for achieving our goals at the conference,” he said.

• All this talking can be exhausting, but delegates looking for some time out can always head to the “chalet” area to enjoy hammocks, swings and a makeshift treehouse.

Weekend catchup and Monday, 12 December

• Some colourful characters have been spotted wandering around the conference centre. Two rappers, Hila the Killa and Lord Blobbie from New York, have been rapping about saving the planet, while a large dinosaur called Frankie has been telling humans they need to act to avoid extinction (via a sign around his neck, Frankie only roars).

• Elsewhere, the Indigenous village opened up in the old port area of Montreal – although it was probably more of a hamlet. The area is hosted by the Indigenous Leadership Initiative and focuses on indigenous groups in Canada. It creates a space for groups to gather, with talks within a heated 100-foot-long Innu shaputuan tent. There is also a tipi and a longhouse. Two geese are roasting on the fire outside but, having been there continuously for two days, are apparently no longer edible.

• On Saturday, when temperatures dipped to -7C, nature groups gathered for a march around the city, with more than 1,000 people meeting to walk around with banners, drums, costumes and masks. Highlights included a puppet of Saint Francis of Assisi and a tree, both towering above the crowd, as well as a paper Chinese dragon. Some of the groups were protesting against Cop15, saying it was greenwashing for business, while others promoted the summit, saying it was crucial a strong agreement was reached. Others spoke out about pipelines in the tar sands, the Line 5 pipeline, the importance of saving monarch butterflies and creating laws on ecocide.

• The Age of Extinction team met a man called David who has cycled more than 40,000km around the globe since 2018 on a solar-powered bike to raise awareness about ecological breakdown. His organisation is called Bank on the Climate.

• There is a growing sense of urgency as time ticks on and much remains to be discussed, with WWF’s Marco Lambertini saying there are still “major blocks”. Negotiators need to focus on getting an agreement based on what science tells us we need to do – not the lowest common denominator of what would be possible, he says.

• There are noticeably many more people attending the conference, with long queues for lunch and to get through security in the morning. It’s a sign that things are going to start heating up this week as ministers start to arrive.

Thursday, 8 December

• Not many see the process of reaching a major environmental agreement in culinary terms, but one observer from China suggested the Cop15 organisers could draw inspiration from Montreal’s Chinatown, which is near the Palais des congrès convention centre.

• Some are visualising nature loss in unusual ways. There is a five-metre tall Jenga tower constructed by WWF, which it says illustrates the perilous state of the planet. Called “The Collapse”, each brick falling represents the damage we do to the natural world, making the whole tower at risk of tumbling down.

• Outside the main talks are plenty of pavilions. It’s a bit like walking around a careers fair. One pavilion is looking at the importance of preserving genetic diversity. Christiano Vernesi is telling people that when we lose biodiversity, the first thing we lose is genetic diversity. Smaller, less genetically diverse populations are weaker and less likely to be able to adapt to planetary changes.

• Elsewhere, stonemasons Sebastian Brooke and Nils Kulleseid are making a plinth to nature. “This is our one speck of the universe. The fossils in this stone speak of millions of years of diverse life in earth. Now the nations must unite to ensure the flourishing of a new era of ecological restoration,” the pitch goes. Brooke and Kulleseid want to build a new museum to nature called the Biodiversity Beacon on the Jurassic coast as part of the Eden Portland project.

Wednesday, 7 December

• Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau’s pledge of C$800m (£510m) over seven years to support Indigenous-led conservation projects was preceded by a ceremony led by the First Nations Elder, Ka’nahsohon Kevin Deer. It made a change from the day before when Trudeau was interrupted by Indigenous protesters at the opening ceremony.

• The UN secretary general António Guterres spoke powerfully about the need to protect the rights of environment protesters, saying “human rights must be at the centre of all environmental concerns and namely, the work of the [UN convention on biodiversity] CBD”.

• A new draft text of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) is littered with more than 1,000 brackets, which will need dealing with over the next two weeks. The text has been described as a “mess”, with many concerned about the amount that still needs to be done.

• Despite more than 20 targets being negotiated, the 30x30 goal to protect 30% of land and oceans by 2030 is stealing the limelight. As delegates arrived at Montreal airport, there was no escaping the slew of posters promoting the ambition.

• Both Canada and China have given delegates welcome bags – the former contained a snood, and the latter, a silk scarf and tea. Masks are also back and each day delegates are taking Covid tests in order to get into the conference centre.

• The EU representative Ladislav Miko criticised Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, saying it brings about “long-term environmental degradation”. One Russian delegate responded by saying the subject should be outside the scope of the biodiversity summit. “It’s hard to avoid the impression that these countries are deliberately trying to sabotage the adoption of a global framework,” he said.

• It’s currently 3C in Montreal and some delegates are struggling with the cold. One was seen wearing a thick coat and woolly hat with headphones over the top in the main plenary hall.

Tuesday, 6 December

• The opening ceremony of Cop15 negotiations finally took place after more than two years of delays due to the pandemic. Trudeau, Guterres, and the Chinese environment minister and Cop15 president Huang Runqiu spoke at the event. Guterres said humanity has become a “weapon of mass extinction” and governments must end the “orgy of destruction” at Cop15.

• There was good news elsewhere, with the EU announcing a ban on all products judged to have contributed to deforestation. The world’s second-largest importer of agricultural product has agreed a law to prevent companies from selling to the EU soy, beef, coffee and other commodities linked to the loss of tropical forests around the world.

• This article was edited on 9 December 2022 to remove the name of a wrongly identified Russian delegate.

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